Democritus was an ancient Greek scientist who was born in 460 B.C.E as a citizen of Abdera. His teachers were Leucippus, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, and Oenopides. Not much is known about Leucippus, and he merely mentioned Oenopides, but they were still his teachers none-the-less. Democritus travelled much in his time to places like Egypt, Persia, Babylon, India, and Ethiopia. His travels may have helped him become the extremely smart person he was. He also frequented the city of Athens, mainly to visit the scientist Anaxagoras. In his book Lesser World System he states that he is 40 years younger than Anaxagoras, that's how people know his approximate date of birth. His father was a wealthy man who was said to have entertained Xerxes. This family relationship is thought to be related to Democritus's early tutoring. The Atomic Theory
Democritus is most famous for his discovery of the atom. He wasn't the first person to have the idea of atoms though. Leucippus and Anaxagoras both had proposed atomic theories before him. He simply made it a more elaborate theory, with relation to the world. His view was, "Democritus asserted that space, or the Void, had an equal right with reality, or Being, to be considered existent. He conceived of the Void as a vacuum, an infinite space in which moved an infinite number of atoms that made up Being (i.e. the physical world). These atoms are eternal and invisible; absolutely small, so small that their size cannot be diminished(hence the name atomon, or "indivisible"); absolutely full and incompressible, as they are without pores and entirely fill the space they occupy; and homogeneous, differing only in shape, arrangement, position, and magnitude." His belief also contained the beginnings of the conservation of energy, as he saw atoms as tiny particles that randomly collided to form bigger things. He also didn't believe in a divine being creating the world, but instead thought that the collision of atoms created a vortex motion, and the atoms were differenciated based on their masses. Interesting Facts
Democritus's personal belief's about life were deterministic, that meaning that he didn't think individuals had freedom of choice. He thought that freedom was an illusion since nobody knows the cause of the decision. His idea of happiness was when there is tranquility and no other feelings to burden the soul. He frowned upon the idea of gods as he saw there only purpose to be an explanation for things which science could not explain. Democritus was known as the laughing philosopher, however the reason for this is debated. Some people believe that he is called this because he believed in cheerfulness and was always happy. Another theory was that he liked to laugh at other people's absurdity, also earning him the name, "The Mocker". His people skills and unpopular beliefs didn't get him many friends, so many of his theories were obscure for a time, until people began testing them and finding him to be a smart guy.
Democritus did not contribute much to mathematics, but he did write about it. Unfortunately, none of his works survived, but he is said to have written about irrationals, mappings, tangencies, geometry, and numbers. He is pointed out in writings by Heath and Plutarch when discussing math, and a dilemma about a cone being cut by a parallel plane. He also recognized the Milky Way as a light instead of stars. It is believed that, around the time of his death, his sister wanted to go to the festival of
Thesmophoria. However, she was upset because he might die soon, and that would interrupt her plans. So Democritus used his knowledge of natural phenomena and kept himself alive by inhaling the smell of freshly baked bread.
Democritus was an ancient Greek scientist who was born in 460 B.C.E as a citizen of Abdera. His teachers were Leucippus, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, and Oenopides. Not much is known about Leucippus, and he merely mentioned Oenopides, but they were still his teachers none-the-less. Democritus travelled much in his time to places like Egypt, Persia, Babylon, India, and Ethiopia. His travels may have helped him become the extremely smart person he was. He also frequented the city of Athens, mainly to visit the scientist Anaxagoras. In his book Lesser World System he states that he is 40 years younger than Anaxagoras, that's how people know his approximate date of birth. His father was a wealthy man who was said to have entertained Xerxes. This family relationship is thought to be related to Democritus's early tutoring.
The Atomic Theory
Democritus is most famous for his discovery of the atom. He wasn't the first person to have the idea of atoms though. Leucippus and Anaxagoras both had proposed atomic theories before him. He simply made it a more elaborate theory, with relation to the world. His view was, "Democritus asserted that space, or the Void, had an equal right with reality, or Being, to be considered existent. He conceived of the Void as a vacuum, an infinite space in which moved an infinite number of atoms that made up Being (i.e. the physical world). These atoms are eternal and invisible; absolutely small, so small that their size cannot be diminished(hence the name atomon, or "indivisible"); absolutely full and incompressible, as they are without pores and entirely fill the space they occupy; and homogeneous, differing only in shape, arrangement, position, and magnitude." His belief also contained the beginnings of the conservation of energy, as he saw atoms as tiny particles that randomly collided to form bigger things. He also didn't believe in a divine being creating the world, but instead thought that the collision of atoms created a vortex motion, and the atoms were differenciated based on their masses.
Interesting Facts
Democritus's personal belief's about life were deterministic, that meaning that he didn't think individuals had freedom of choice. He thought that freedom was an illusion since nobody knows the cause of the decision. His idea of happiness was when there is tranquility and no other feelings to burden the soul. He frowned upon the idea of gods as he saw there only purpose to be an explanation for things which science could not explain. Democritus was known as the laughing philosopher, however the reason for this is debated. Some people believe that he is called this because he believed in cheerfulness and was always happy. Another theory was that he liked to laugh at other people's absurdity, also earning him the name, "The Mocker". His people skills and unpopular beliefs didn't get him many friends, so many of his theories were obscure for a time, until people began testing them and finding him to be a smart guy.
Democritus did not contribute much to mathematics, but he did write about it. Unfortunately, none of his works survived, but he is said to have written about irrationals, mappings, tangencies, geometry, and numbers. He is pointed out in writings by Heath and Plutarch when discussing math, and a dilemma about a cone being cut by a parallel plane. He also recognized the Milky Way as a light instead of stars. It is believed that, around the time of his death, his sister wanted to go to the festival of
Thesmophoria. However, she was upset because he might die soon, and that would interrupt her plans. So Democritus used his knowledge of natural phenomena and kept himself alive by inhaling the smell of freshly baked bread.
Work Cited:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#2
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Democritus.html (first quote)
http://press.umich.edu/pdf/0472113887-ch3.pdf
http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A3936026
http://www.oceansbridge.com/oil-paintings/product/72558/democritus - First Image
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/atomism.html - Second Image
http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/numimage/Morseelse.htm - Third Image
http://www.glogster.com/glog/6mh6td599546liqsv442la0?old_embed=True - Last Image